Creating a Ship
To create a ship from scratch, we need to go through the list of ship parts and put together a ship that will function based on the amount of energy and fuel requirements, and that contains all the parts necessary to operation. Make sure you keep track of how much money it would cost to build this ship. The players shouldn’t be able to build their own ship from scratch until they actually have enough money or a trade-in to do so. The GM should build ships for them and allow them to be found, stolen, purchased at a discount, borrowed, loaned, or exchanged for services. Purchasing a Hull: The first step in any shipbuilding endeavor is to purchase a hull to build off of. The chart on the next page shows all the different types of hulls you can purchase and what their structural limitations are. Segments: Most smaller ships consist of only one segment. However, as ships get bigger, they begin to be broken into different segments. To easily imagine these segments, think of everyone’s favorite TV spaceship… it has two engine segments, the main body, and the frontal section where the bridge is located. Thus, it has four main segments, each with six sides (a top, a bottom, a front, a back, a port, and a starboard) on which to calculate hull damage. Decks: Decks are the floors on a starship. The GM should do his best to calculate which decks of a ship have been affected by a hull breach, but remember that damage in Star Captain is purely cinematic and he shouldn’t be worried about every technical little bit of the damage to the ship. As long as he has an idea of the damage and can convey it to the players, it’s enough. Outfitting a Ship: Once you have chosen a starship hull, and have decided how you want to break it up into segments or decks, then you can begin to add equipment and ship’s systems to it. Start going through each type of equipment, deciding if your ship needs it or not, and if so, what quality of the equipment do you feel you need. Fill out a Ship’s Log with all the information regarding what you’ve put on the ship. Add up all the energy and fuel requirements and the total cost of the ship. Make sure the fuel tanks and energy generators are big enough to run everything that you want to run. Remember, however, that you don’t constantly need power running to every single system, but remember that your crew won’t want to turn off their life support in order to raise shields and arm weapons. Partial Power: Remember also that systems can run on partial power. If you run at full power, the ship’s system will run at 100% efficiency. If you only run it between 75% and 99%, that system will cause a -1 rank penalty to any job it is used for. If it is from 50% to 74%, it causes a -2 rank. If you run it from 25% to 49%, it causes a -3 rank, and anything less than that causes a -4 rank. Starting Ship: A starting ship for a crew new to the game should be size 4 (a Star Corvette) with all Fair systems. Very special systems, like Matter Replicators and Cloning Chambers, should be left out of an introductory ship. Name It: What is the name of your ship, and if it’s legal, what is its registration number? Category:Starships